COMMUNITY FORUM

hot water heat in my shop

I've got a 30'x40' shop with water lines running through the floor. They are hooked to a 50 gallen hot water heater and a pump. I let it run for about two weeks and it just barley warmed up I was told this is a very economal way to heat but I used about 80 gallons of propane just tring to get it to work. Do I need a bigger water heater or do I need a boiler? Also what would a small boiler cost and where do you get them? I only want to keep it about 50 degrees or so the shop is well insulated so I don't think I need much. THANKS DAVE R.

It is a cement floor and I think it just has lines running back and forth in the floor I just moved here this summer and the guy who could lived here and built it is passed on so I'm not sure. The hot water heater seems to be working however not to sure about having all the air out of the lines. THANKS AGAIN DAVE

Sounds like the guy who built it didn't leave any plans or instructions. If he built it from scratch, my only thought for a next step is to try to verify that the pump is actually pumping hot water throught he pipes.Is it a closed system, where no additional water is added? Are you comfortable that there's no leak anywhere?Maybe someone else can offer ideas.

I have a friend who inherited a situation that sounds somewhat familiar (but the basement in-floor heat was solar powered). Turns out, the original owner did not place any insulation between the tubing and the ground. Therefore, any heat which is run through the tubes simply dissipated in trying to warm the Earth (literally 'Earth', not just 'earth') below. My buddy cannot make use of the system, so it has sat idle for 10 years or so. Don't know if your situation is the same, but just thought I'd pass along .